While hospitals can often offer higher salaries for physicians, ASCs can offer consistency and ownership stake.
Barry Dison is administrator of Advanced Surgical Care of Baton Rouge, La. He spoke with Becker's ASC Review on ways ASCs can incentivize physicians.
Question: How can ASCs compete with hospitals to recruit top physician talent?
Barry Dison: There are several incentives that will attract physicians to an ASC even though they may still retain privileges at a hospital. The first reason that I give to physicians considering an ASC is lifestyle changes and efficiency. The same surgeon performing the same procedures at a hospital may work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. while at an ASC we could do that lineup from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m — which would basically add four hours to their day.
As we all know, time is money, and that physician can go see patients at their clinic, do more surgeries or make it on time to their child's event. Besides the improvement in their time and lifestyle, surgeons at an ASC will enjoy consistency and familiarity with our process and staff. We have very low turnover in the industry, and most ASCs are small enough that the administrator is readily available to address any issues on the spot without the need to go through the bureaucracy of a hospital setting. Staff consistency leads to better outcomes and patient safety as well. Finally, there is the financial incentive to join an ASC because the physician owner is able to participate in distributions during successful periods of the year.